Ipswich Crown Court Sentencing Results

Vincent Sword, a 53-year-old from Lowestoft, exchanged sexual messages with a decoy profile of a 12-year-old girl between April 6 and June 29, 2024. He arranged to meet the girl at Bury St Edmunds railway station, suggesting they go to a hotel or his home. On arrival, he was confronted by vigilante paedophile hunters who livestreamed the encounter and called police. Further investigation revealed he had also messaged a second decoy profile.

Zachary Sutton was driving a HGV lorry on the A143 at Pakenham on 1 July 2019 when he failed to see a 35-year-old hitchhiker walking in the same direction. The victim was struck by the vehicle's nearside mirror on the head and died in hospital on 11 July 2019. Sutton was arrested on 1 July 2019, charged following investigations, and admitted the offence during court proceedings.

David Pennery, a 32-year-old resident of Rayner Road in Colchester, was sentenced following a police investigation into child sexual exploitation. During a raid on his home in March, Essex Police seized his phone and found indecent images of children. At Ipswich Crown Court, prosecutors detailed that Pennery had downloaded and distributed a Category A indecent image and video, along with images in Categories B and C. He also engaged in sexualised online conversations and sent explicit pictures of himself to someone claiming to be a 13-year-old boy. The judge imposed the four-year custodial sentence in September 2023, highlighting the serious nature of the offences.

David Wilson, from Kirstead, King's Lynn, Norfolk, set up fake social media profiles using unregistered phones to prey on 52 boys aged between four and 14. Between May 2016 and April 2020, he sent images of girls to trick boys into sending indecent videos and images of themselves, then blackmailed them to produce more extreme material, including abusing younger siblings or friends, threatening to distribute it online unless they complied. The National Crime Agency identified evidence of him approaching over 5,000 children globally.

Sadowski, 37, from Yeoman Close in Ipswich, targeted a decoy account he thought belonged to a 14-year-old girl. On March 2, 2025, he sent a Facebook message to the decoy account. Within the first four messages, the account stated she was 14, to which Sadowski replied that he was 37 and much older. He gave the girl his phone number and moved the conversation to WhatsApp, where the exchange quickly became sexual and he sent her an explicit image. Sadowski also offered to pay for a train ticket so she could meet him the next day, telling her not to tell anyone. The conversation was reported to police, and he was arrested on April 10. He was later charged on December 29, 2025.

Carl Brown, a convicted sex offender from Lowestoft in Suffolk, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court on 16th April, where he was sentenced to 28 months' imprisonment for repeatedly breaching court orders imposed upon him. The court heard that Brown has a history of sexual offences, leading to previous custodial sentences. Despite these, he has wilfully disregarded the conditions set to protect the public, resulting in this latest conviction. Prosecutor Jane Hunt, reporting for the East Anglian Daily Times, detailed how Brown's actions demonstrated a blatant disregard for judicial restrictions. Brown was previously jailed for sexual offences, though specific details of the original crimes were not outlined in court proceedings. Multiple breaches occurred, described by the judge as 'wilful', indicating intentional non-compliance. The sentencing took place at Ipswich Crown Court, serving the Suffolk region. Judge [Name not specified] remarked during the hearing that Brown's repeated violations necessitated a firm custodial response to uphold public safety. This sentence of 28 months underscores the seriousness with which the courts treat breaches by registered sex offenders. The case was handled under Suffolk Constabulary jurisdiction, with no further incidents reported post-sentencing.

On 25 July 2020 at approximately 8.25pm, Claire Waterman drove a Volkswagen Golf at 50mph in a 30mph zone in Mildenhall. After police attempted to stop the vehicle due to no current MOT or insurance, she led officers on an 11-minute pursuit covering almost eight miles, driving on the wrong side of the road, the wrong way around a roundabout, weaving between vehicles and causing her car to leave the road. The pursuit ended when the car went up a verge into a hedge in Lakenheath. Officers found cocaine in her purse. Waterman was arrested and later sentenced.

Corey Anderson first met the victim online in 2018 and continued to communicate with her online until the summer of 2020 when he arranged to meet her when she was aged 15. He met with the victim in Suffolk before taking her back to his home address in the West Midlands. Police located Anderson and the victim after the teenager had been reported missing by her family. Anderson was stopped while in a vehicle with the victim. He was arrested and charged with sexual activity with a child, meeting a child following sexual grooming, sexual communication with a child and child abduction.

Alfred Henry, a 77-year-old retired Essex police officer from Hessett, Suffolk, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court. Police discovered 526 indecent photographs on his computer and 282 printed images, primarily of girls aged seven and upwards, with two at the most serious level five category. The behaviour began in 2011 out of ‘inquisitiveness’ and later became a habit. Henry had attempted an overdose after his arrest the previous year and had suffered the deaths of his first wife and son.

Aaron Morrison, of High Street, Felixstowe, Suffolk, communicated via mobile phone in December 2020 with a person purporting to be 14 years old, sending sexual messages and making several attempts to meet them for sex. He attended different locations in Essex to meet the victim but they never met. He was arrested in December 2020 following police investigations into his mobile phone and charged in June 2021 with two offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

Alex Baldry, 24, of Ashcroft Road, Ipswich, distributed indecent images of children in a secret Telegram group with 112 participants and possessed 929 indecent digital items depicting children aged from six months to teenagers. The images were discovered after a police raid in March 2023. He pleaded guilty to making indecent photographs of a child in categories A, B, and C, distributing indecent photographs, and obtaining an article to assist in computer misuse offences. Malware was also found. Recorder Emma Nash stated the material was not a made-up digital world but horrific, depraved, disgusting sexual abuse of children.

On June 30 2024, Harry Salmon, 27, of Harsnett Road, Colchester, was involved in a fight at Trilogy nightclub in Colchester High Street. After being ejected from the club while drunk, he punched door supervisor Clare Beeson, causing her to fall unconscious. She suffered a broken eye socket requiring hospital treatment, with injuries described as life-changing, leading to time off work, flashbacks and anxiety affecting her family. Salmon was shown on CCTV swaying and stumbling.

Henry Hart, a 40-year-old man formerly of Stanningfield, near Bury St Edmunds, used Snapchat to contact a girl under 16 and send her sexual messages. The offences came to light after a friend of the victim raised concerns with their family, who reported the matter to police. Hart was convicted at Ipswich Crown Court of two counts of sexual communication with a girl under 16 and one count of inciting a girl under 16 to engage in sexual activity by penetration. He received a prison sentence of five years and ten months, along with an indefinite sexual harm prevention order, a restraining order, and lifetime registration on the sex offenders' register.

Grant Borroff, 55, from Colchester, Essex, used a camera to take indecent photographs of children as young as one year old, including zooming into a child's private parts, and upskirted young schoolchildren in Colchester. Devices seized contained 66 Category A images, 119 Category B images, and 2,220 Category C images. He referred to the images as 'trophies' in police interview after initially giving no comment.

Edmund Hall, 47, of Dunlop Road, Ipswich, downloaded more than 200 indecent images and videos of children, including babies under a year old, using search terms including 'babies', 'paedo', 'younger' and 'rape'. Material included 58 images and 55 videos in category A, 60 images and 16 videos in category B, 15 images in category C, plus a prohibited image. He distributed indecent images to like-minded people and advised on hiding material. iPhone seized from his home by police in May 2021.

Jason Woodley, 60, of Millers Close, Walsham-le-Willows, stabbed a man and his 16-year-old son in Ixworth with a penknife attached to a key ring. He then confronted the pair at a bus stop. The victim has been left permanently disabled since the attack.

James Cornell, a 26-year-old convicted sex offender from Colchester, was originally sentenced in 2018 for luring two young girls into a wooded area, which led to a seven-year sexual harm prevention order prohibiting him from deleting any internet or search history. In June 2024, he breached this order by deleting sexual WhatsApp conversations, including messages, voice notes, photographs, and videos, with female escorts. During a routine meeting with an officer, he presented his phone which had been wiped of these exchanges. The material involved consenting adults and was not criminal, but the deletion constituted the breach. Cornell, who works as a car salesman, admitted eight counts of breach at Ipswich Crown Court and was sentenced to a community order.

In May 2023, John Britton became enraged by the cautious driving of Martin Palmer on a diversion route through Elmstead Market, Essex. Britton tailgated Palmer's vehicle, flashed his lights aggressively, and overtook before braking suddenly. Palmer pulled into a layby and upon exiting his car, Britton retrieved a baseball bat from his vehicle and threatened Palmer. When Palmer challenged him, Britton returned to his car and deliberately drove it towards Palmer, forcing him to leap into bushes to avoid being struck. Britton denied charges of dangerous driving and threatening another with an offensive weapon but failed to attend his trial, leading to a conviction in absentia.

Between 22 and 24 January 2023, Kyle Bunn exchanged messages with an undercover police officer posing as a 14-year-old schoolgirl. He sent explicit videos and images, asked for images, and encouraged her to engage in sexual activity. Police later found over 140 indecent images of children on his devices, including 33 Category A images depicting victims aged from 18 months to 17 years. Bunn was described in court as extremely immature and someone who had spent most of his life at home online.

Lesley Collins, 48, from Stradbroke near Eye in Suffolk, used the alias Rod Collins to send a Facebook friend request to a profile of a fictitious 13-year-old girl operated by the Child Online Safety Team. He moved the conversation to WhatsApp between 4 and 7 July 2024, repeatedly asking for photographs including underwear shots. On 7 July 2024, he live-streamed a video of himself performing a sex act to the decoy. The vigilante group tracked him to his home, confronted him, and called police. He admitted the actions and expressed remorse.

On 30 October, Kerri Keen-Watts attended a support centre in Museum Street, Ipswich, despite being banned. She produced a bottle of ethanol, spread it on the floor, threatened to 'light them all up' and attempted to ignite matches while other people were present. She was disarmed but continued trying to start a fire before leaving. She then sent threatening messages to a youth worker at another location. She was arrested shortly afterwards.